Why Live This Way?
Notes
Transcript
Why do we do the things we do?
You ever notice when you get the tongs out to grill something or turn something over in a pan, you click them twice, just to make sure they’re working properly? It warms them up, or something. I don’t know why we do it, but it’s the law.
I don’t know any person who doesn’t automatically, instinctively use the cardboard wrapping paper roll as a sword. And you wage war with whoever is closest to you.
Why do we do the things we do?
I have more than my share of weird behaviors, some of which I can’t begin to explain. Meghann asked me why I always adjust one of the pocket doors in our house so that there’s an inch or so sticking out.
I thought about it for a second and said, “I have no idea, but I have to do it; I can’t help it. It’s a compulsion.”
There’s no logical reason for my doing some of what I do.
For years and years, for at least the last 13.5 years, whoever bought coffee for the church would open the container of coffee and dump it into a Tupperware container of the same size and stick it in the cupboard.
I blindly followed this tradition for 13 years. We’d open the coffee and pour it into a different container. Over and over and over. About a year ago, I asked myself “why?” Why are we doing this? For what possible reason are we doing this?
The Tupperware doesn’t keep it any fresher; in fact, it probably was less air-tight (the lid of the Tupperware was cracked and a little warped). The Tupperware doesn’t hold more of the coffee than the container it came in; most of the time it held less. Beyond that, I’m not sure the Tupperware container was ever washed out. We just kept putting coffee in it. For decades.
You’ll be proud to know I finally worked up the gumption to throw that Tupperware container away. Now we simply use the container the coffee comes in. Novel idea, huh?
I have no real answer for why we all participated in that behavior, but we did. For decades. I did it for more than 13 years.
Why? Why do we do the things we do?
Some of what we do, we obviously do without thinking. Some of what we do, we do because that’s the way we’ve always done it. Crazy town.
Where the Christian life is concerned, some of what we do is routine. But if someone was to ask why we love one another, why we are sympathetic and compassionate toward one another, I wonder what we would say?
Because the Bible tells us we should.
Because the love of Christ compels us.
What Peter is urging us to do here, the way he’s exhorting the early church to behave is grounded in Biblical reasoning. Let’s see what Peter says about why we live this way.
If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn to 1 Peter 3. If you’re able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!
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Why do we do the things we do? Why do Christians behave in the way? Why should we live the way Peter’s telling us to live?
Because We’re Called to It (v. 9)
Because We’re Called to It (v. 9)
This is a phrase we looked at briefly last week as we studied what Peter was saying about how we should live.
When writing to his readers, echoing the teaching of Jesus, Peter tells them not to repay evil with with evil or insult with insult but to repay evil with blessing because to this you were called...
Because to this you were called...
When kids ask why they have to do a chore, or clean up their room, or finish their homework, there’s a simple answer: “Because we’re the parents and we told you to.”
If we are obedient children of our Heavenly Father, we might ask why we have to do this or that, but, at the end of the day, we do what He’s told us to do (and that’s all the justification we should require).
Beyond the obligatory “because I said so”, I think there’s more to this. I think there is quite a bit of privilege here.
Because to this you were called...
He called us to be His children! He called us out of darkness and into His marvellous light! He called us from the dominion of death and brought us into the kingdom of His Son.
He called us! According to His eternal plan and purpose, brothers and sisters, He called you!
If you ever stop and think, “Why do I have to love that person? Why do I have to put up with them? Why can’t I do what I really want to do?”—if you ever find yourself asking questions like that, maybe turn the question around and consider the privilege of it all instead.
I was dead, but God called me out of the grave. I was sinking, and God pulled me out of the miry pit, set my feet on the rock. And now He’s telling me to behave this way—why wouldn’t I? He saved me. He’s my Lord and my master. He gets to tell me what to do. It’s an honor and unspeakable privilege to be His; I’m going to do what He’s asked.
Why live this way? Because we’re called to it.
Why live this way?
Because God is Good (vv. 10-12)
Because God is Good (vv. 10-12)
I think I know what Peter’s favorite psalm is. I mean, he doesn’t come right out and tell us, but he refers to one psalm over and over. Peter loves Psalm 34; it’s at least his favorite psalm at the moment he’s writing this letter.
He makes more than one reference to it in this short letter, and here seems to quote it from memory.
Peter quotes Psalm 34 where the psalmist is proclaiming that the LORD rescues His own when they suffer and that He will judge the wicked.
The righteous display their trust and hope in the LORD by renouncing evil and pursuing what is good.
The LORD favors righteousness and opposes evil. What this boils down to, what the psalmist is teaching, and the point Peter seems to be making is this:
God is good and as such our behavior must model Him, His goodness, His righteousness.
God is good and opposes evil. If there is any confusion about how they should live, Peter wants to clear it up right here.
Life is found in repenting of evil and trusting in God.
On repenting, Peter uses Psalm 34 to tell people to turn from evil, to keep their tongue and their lips from evil and deceitful speech.
There’s even the image of repentance in verse 11: they must TURN from evil and do good.
But it’s not enough to just avoid evil; there has to be a desire to do good, to seek goodness and peace, to pursue those things. There has to be a matching commitment to doing good.
Why? Because all of this morality is reflective of the very character of God.
1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
How we live, the reason we live in the ways Peter is calling us to live is not to uphold some miscellaneous moral code.
It’s not doing good for the sake of it. Or, even worse, doing good works because we think that will earn God’s favor.
The reason we live the way Peter’s calling his readers to live is that our good behavior, our shunning evil, our peaceful and righteous living are reflective of the goodness of God.
Why do we live like this? Because God is good and we want to live as those who reflect His goodness to those around us.
Why live this way? Because God is good.
To encourage us in holiness, Peter makes clear that we should not fear anyone or anything other than the LORD.
We live this way
Because We Fear God Alone (vv. 13-14)
Because We Fear God Alone (vv. 13-14)
What Peter’s doing here is instructing Christians from the Old Testament. I love when the NT authors pull from the OT. Carried along by the Holy Spirit, they’re teaching us how cohesive the word of God is.
Peter has already used a psalm (Psalm 34) and now he pulls a phrase from Isaiah to make his point.
In our text—verse 14—Peter is quotes from Isaiah 8.
Turn there with me to see, in context, what Peter is saying and why he’s quoting this from Isaiah.
It’s about why
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12 “Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread.
14 He will be a holy place;
for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare.
Peter’s teaching them about the fear of the LORD. We aren’t to fear what’s going on around us; we don’t fear what the unbelieving population fears. We are to fear the LORD, and Him only.
In Psalm 34, the psalm Peter’s just quoted in verses 10-12, there’s further teaching about the fear of the LORD:
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Peter is taking these themes from the OT and instructing his readers, these early Christians. They need instruction because they are beginning to fear the people around them.
Peter’s instructing them not to fear anyone but the LORD. The only one you are to fear is the LORD.
These commands Peter has given in verses 8-9 are not some kind of miscellaneous morality of Christians, some ever-growing list of how to live your best life now.
These commands and our obedience to them are a reflection of what it looks like for us to regard Jesus uniquely, as the Sovereign One who is calling the final shots of our lives.
This is who Jesus Christ is. He’s the one calling the shots.
This is what it looks like to take Christ as our pattern, to set apart Christ as LORD in our hearts, as opposed to anything else.
Other people, those living amongst the Christians in Peter’s day, would pattern their lives after the ways of the world. For them, Caesar is lord. For them, Rome is the one calling the shots.
Many people today, even some who profess faith in Christ, pattern their lives after the ways of the world. They look to this person or that person for direction; they believe this politician or that politician is lord. Celebrities and trends and pop-culture are calling the shots.
Brothers and sisters, do not pattern your lives after the ways of the world. Following the world might be easier in the short-term, but we know this world and everything in it is passing away.
Fear the LORD and be eager to do good; there’s blessing from Him. Fearing the LORD, fearing Him more than others, letting Him be the one calling the final shots in your life will show itself in doing good, EVEN IF it involves suffering.
When we fear God alone, when Jesus is the pattern of our lives and we follow Him and not the world, this could very well land us in some difficulty.
But we continue to live this way,
Because Our Hope is in Him (vv. 15-17)
Because Our Hope is in Him (vv. 15-17)
We know that God is good. We know that if we fear Him uniquely, it’s as if we’re tied to Him and we must go where He leads.
And that life can be bumpy, like driving the streets of Rich Hill. Following Him isn’t always easy, but He’s always good and His way is best.
This, I believe, is why we’re instructed to revere Christ as LORD:
15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
When we live the way He’s called us to live, following Him and not the world, there’s going to be a strange thing that happens.
Some of you have had this happen.
You’ve been confronted by someone—family member, friend, classmate, neighbor—and they ask you what’s changed. “What happened to you? You’re different. Why don’t we see you at the parties anymore? Why aren’t you hanging out with us any longer?”
All this because you’ve chosen to live the life Jesus has called you to live.
We’re expected to be ready to give an answer. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you...
That’s some pressure, until we realize what we have to be prepared to do.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason FOR THE HOPE that you have.
Always be ready to talk about the hope you have. Hope is a central word for Peter. Peter’s focus is on the inheritance waiting for believers at the end (the end of this world or the end of our lives).
The prayer is that unbelievers will recognize by the way believers respond to difficulty that their hope is in God and not in earthly circumstances.
You don’t have to have an answer for every question posed to you. What you need to have at the ready is an answer for the hope that you have.
And that’s pretty basic: you, Christian, have hope because of what God has done in Christ.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to us to rescue us from our sin. Jesus came to make us right with our Heavenly Father. Jesus died in our place and credited us with His perfect, sinless righteousness.
This is our hope. Jesus is our hope! This is what we’re always ready and willing to share, with gentleness and respect.
Why live this way? Why live in the way Peter writes here for us to live? Well, for one, because our hope is in God!
We live for Him and because of Him (and what He’s done).
We live this way so that even those who speak against our good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Why live this way?
Well, because. Because.
Because He calls us to live this way, and because God is good, and because we fear Him alone, and because our hope is in Him.
Why live this way? Why wouldn’t we?